You can't judge me!!

"What the hell!" Hyosung exclaimed.

It didn't take him long to realize the people of Hadon weren't fond of outsiders, but they were beginning to do too much.

"Well, well. It seems our special guest has arrived," White murmured to herself as lifeless blue eyes were fixed on Hyosung. Though it wasn't just her...

The spokesman, three elders, and even the audience stared curiously at Hyosung, some forgetting the previous events that had occurred, with their attention focused on him.

Unease filled his body, not to mention the graveyard silence that engulfed the court, only broken by the rare howling of the afternoon wind.

His fingers shook, his mouth twitched, and the clothes he wore slowly soaked in sweat, but luckily the path from which he came was also the exit, thus his legs slowly reversed with calculated steps. The sound of his feet echoed to every corner, with everyone's eyes following his movements as he tried to flee.

Bang!

His body stopped as though he'd hit a wall, unable to move any further to the stairs. Though there was nothing blocking the stairs when he climbed up the first time. "Could it be magic?" he wondered.

"Why are you in such a rush, Hyosung?" A thick yet familiar voice spoke loudly, his words filled with confidence.

Hyosung dared not look in the voice's direction, as he knew the familiar voice all too well, as silk strands of dark hair brushed his face from behind.

"Sylzao, what took you so long!" The elder who wore black shouted, his voice filled with impatience.

"I'm sorry for taking so long, but I'm grateful you honored my request to handle this matter myself," he answered, folding his right hand, then placing it on his chest, bowing his head in respect.

"Very well."

"S-S-Sylzao!!!" White stuttered and shrieked, her body filled with happiness upon his return.

He responded with a sharp, cold glare, as if telling her to bottle up her emotions and remain composed, which she heeded and returned to her stance.

"Sylzao, what's going on?" Hyosung asked with a fright-filled voice.

"You're new here, so I just held this little meeting together to familiarize you with some of our customs," he replied mockingly.

"What's going on is fairly simple: we're going to decide whether you live or end up like that lifeless body beside White." As he spoke, a horrific smile stretched across his face, his eyes widened malevolently. Merely gazing at Hyosung was enough to send stabbing pain across his back.

"Agghhh..." Hyosung dropped to his knees in agony, filling the broad space with his screams as he yelled. Indeed, Sylzao was a frightening man, capable of torturing his enemy without laying a finger.

Screaming didn't seem to ease the pain; it was as though his back was set ablaze, and every second that passed made it grow hotter. Yet, neither clenching the ground nor rolling his body against it made the sensation vanish.

Truly a pitiful display by Hyosung, causing confusion and sympathy amongst the people. The silence that was only occupied by his screams began to fill up with the loud murmurs and gossip of the people.

"Is this weakling supposed to be a threat?" a voice echoed from the muttering crowd.

"This makes us look bad as a community, didn't you think?" asked another voice from the crowd.

"Yes, I agree! This isn't right!" said another. It seemed the people began to favor Hyosung, though being pitiful does come with the occasional benefits.

"Silence!" the spokesman screamed, shattering the disjointed chatter amongst the people.

"My people, do not be deceived by this man's appearance. He may seem weak, but in reality, he's a truly deceitful and clever person," Sylzao argued.

"Shut the hell up, what the hell..." Hyosung's agonized voice slowly eased, gritting his teeth as he pushed his body upward with both fists slammed against the ground. "No, who the hell do you think you are to determine how the fuck I am!" His veins rose across his body, the pain seemingly fading away, giving him some more control over his body.

"What?" His thickened voice sharpened into a threatening tone. Facing forward, Sylzao wasted no time redirecting his eyes towards Hyosung, dark lines seemingly stretching across his face to his cheeks in utter atrociousness as he sent another glare to put him down.

Penetrating his body, Sylzao's infernal stare made its way to Hyosung once more, forcing him to slam his body brutally on the ground, resulting in an explosive THUD! and the large dust cloud that rose from the broken tiled floors. To Hyosung, everything froze with his body stiffened for a brief second, his sense of perception and stability vanished, making his body feel like it weighed tons, inflicting more gravity on it.

However, unlike the first time, this feeling that surged through his body was only instantaneous.

Bang!

His slammed fists reverberated loudly as they hit the ground. Once more, Hyosung pushed himself above the broken floor, though struggling to fully raise himself higher than the flying dust cloud. His eyes locked with Sylzao's, replying to his infernal stare with an even more diabolical glare, their furrowed eyes fixated on each other until Hyosung's hellish glare sent chills down Sylzao's spine.

Sylzao was startled by his unpredictable display of power, so much so that his confident stance began to lag, with a small drip of sweat slowly making a path down his face, though he wasn't the only one to have been frightened by Hyosung's display.

Woosh!

A small gush of wind dispersed from the direction where White stood.

Swish..!

Thud!

"This is the second time I've pinned you to the ground without any sort of retaliation," another familiar voice whispered in his ear.

"It's her, the girl from last night," Hyosung's mind contemplated.

"You're not particularly smart, are you?" She mocked, though a sense of amusement filled her soul. "You shouldn't have done that; now you're going to die, and unlike yesterday, no one's going to save you," her face twisted in joy.

"To simply put it, this entire sham of a hearing was being broadcast to the entire three Districts through magic that transmits in the form of waves...or a radio, to put it simply," her voice softened as she drew her lips closer to his ear, making her every word heard. "Every home, shop, and business that exists here, along with all its people, watched you exchange poisonous glares with Sylzao of all people," she chuckled slightly, expecting Hyosung to understand as she drew her sword closer to his neck.

His eyes widened in shock due to the realization! "Does that mean they'll all think..."

"He's a threat! A very dangerous one at that," the first elder shouted with a cowardly voice.

"I agree!" the second elder backed.

The crowd, the spokesman, and all those who listened in every home and building that existed in Hadon were left utterly dumbfounded, their thoughts frozen, unable to grasp the bizarre string of events that had occurred.

"HIS PUNISHMENT SHOULD BE DEATH!" Urane's voice yelled from the background.

Tired of the endless twists and turns his short stay had offered, Hyosung resigned, resting his head on the cold and crumbled floor, yet his face was full of relief and not fear.

Everything seemed to be working in Sylzao's favor, though he too was completely stranded in the matter. It was like viewing a soap opera in 4K HD.

"But not today, as we are yet to know whether he's but a small pebble in a larger sand bed," Urane advised, knowing full well her words would be taken into contemplation.

"I get it now, Urane. You waited until things got this heated. Was supporting me in my decision to have him exiled expecting too much from you?" Sylzao's mind pondered.

"Hm...I guess you were saved by the bell, or should I say by Urane. You're incredibly lucky sometimes, you know," White's voice hardened as she sheathed her sword, releasing Hyosung in the process. Her brows flattened in disappointment, clinging harder to her sword sheath in rage.

Relieved by her words, Hyosung regained control of his body, throwing himself back on his feet. "Just as expected. Only I can see it..." he muttered beneath his breath.

Ping! Ping! Ping!...

{Dear Hyosung Slay, you have met another criteria in a list of many. Would you like to reconsider your decision and become an author?}

{Yes} {No}

"Yes," he replied in a whisper.

{Your request is being processed. Please wait for your confirmation. Note: if a confirmation isn't received in 6 minutes, please request another.}

{Confirmation message in 6:59...}

{6:58...}

The transparent screen counted down.

Meanwhile, in the court, a decision was being made by the three elders who acted in haste and cowardice to come up with a judgment.

Finally, a decision was reached. The spokesman was signaled once again to announce the verdict. The hearts of many began to beat loudly, many unsure about how the decision would affect them as a whole. Those who listened were at the edge of their seats, including Black, who was caught up in a training session.

Hyosung, however, was more fixated on the system's screen. The events of the real world seemed to escape him like a breeze.

The spokesman cleared his throat for the last judgment. "The verdict has been given. The man known as Hyosung Slay has been sentenced to death by tomorrow evening!" He paused as his voice cracked in fear. "Till then, he'll be kept imprisoned beneath Sylza Tower as a demonstration for any who wish to trespass on our land!" His voice hoarse, yet he yelled with all his might.

The people at the court and the citizens of Hadon began to groan and grumble as dissatisfaction filled their hearts.

{Please wait: 5:20...}

"It's almost there..." Hyosung's attention, however, was still on the system, forgetting a mere hearing was held to determine his future.

Being sentenced to death was a mere stepping stone compared to what the world had in store for Hyosung, his journey barely beginning at the slightest. As a sinister presence began to form far from where he stood, away from Sylza Tower and the three Districts as a whole, a portal was opening? Or perhaps a gate, though what

ever planned to use it must have been quite powerful to kill all the beasts that lived in the forest. Its next territory to conquer...